What is Google App Engine?
Answer
Google App Engine is a fully managed PaaS for building and hosting web applications. Google manages the servers, operating systems, and runtime — you deploy code. Two environments: Standard Environment: runs in a sandboxed environment with specific language runtimes (Python, Java, Go, PHP, Node.js, Ruby); scales to zero (no cost when idle); free tier available; limited to approved libraries. Flexible Environment: runs in Docker containers on Compute Engine VMs; supports any language or runtime; never scales to zero; more flexible but costs more. App Engine is best for web apps and APIs where you want Google to handle scaling and infrastructure. It was Google's first cloud service, launched in 2008, predating AWS Lambda by years in the serverless concept.